My family objected violently when my brother and I said{#blank#}1{#/blank#}were going to spend the Christmas holidays abroad. But nothing could persuade us {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(stay). Two days{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Christmas, we went to a small town in Southern Germany. We spent {#blank#}4{#/blank#}whole of Christmas Eve sightseeing.

       There were so many activities in the town that they added to our{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(excite). The streets were crowded with people{#blank#}6{#/blank#}the shops were full of wonderful things. In the evening, we went to listen to Christmas songs sung by children around the{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(bright) decorated Christmas tree in the main street. We returned to our hotel late that night, greatly{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(look) forward to the next day when we planned to have a meal at the best restaurant in town.But in the morning the streets were empty. To make matters worse, all the shops including the restaurants {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(shut). At last we had to return to our hotel, feeling very miserable. Our Christmas“feast” was a bag of fruits, which my brother had happened to buy the daybefore. Our thoughts sadly turned to home {#blank#}10{#/blank#}, at that moment, the entire family must have been wishing us a “Merry Christmas.”

    The adobe dwellings(土坯房）{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(build) by the Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest are admired by even {#blank#}2{#/blank#}most modern of architects and engineers. In addition to their simple beauty, what makes the adobe dwellings admirable is their {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(able) to “air condition” a house without {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（use）exact equipment. Walls made of adobe take in the heat from the sun on hot days and give out that her{#blank#}5{#/blank#}（slow）during cool nights，thus warning the house. When a new day breaks, the walls have given up their heat and are now cold enough {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (cool) the house during the hot day: {#blank#}7{#/blank#} the same time, they warm up again for the night This cycle {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (go) day after day: The walls warm up During the day and cool off during the night and thus always a timely offset（抵消）for the outside temperatures. As {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(nature) architects, the Pueblo Indians figured out exactly{#blank#}10{#/blank#}thick the adobe walls needed to be to make the cycle work on most days.

    Keeping in touch with our friends is an important part of friendship. This does not mean that {#blank#}1{#/blank#} have to write or call our friends every day. It does mean, however, that we {#blank#}2{#/blank#} care enough about our friends to find out how they are doing from time to time.

    People have different habits about keeping in touch with others. Some like to call their friends, sometimes many times {#blank#}3{#/blank#}day. Others prefer to e-mail their friends. Still {#blank#}4{#/blank#} prefer writing letters so that they can include photos or interesting articles {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the envelopes along with their letters. Some even write postcards while they are on vacation {#blank#}6{#/blank#}send them to friends.

    Every kind of communication is important. It is {#blank#}7{#/blank#}important what kind of call we make or letter we send.{#blank#}8{#/blank#}is important is that we let others know we care about them.

    The way you walk may be determined by your daily schedule, and it may also reflect your personality. The {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (choose) you make can tell something about your inner thoughts. At least, that's{#blank#}2{#/blank#} science has proved. Lately, researchers{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (observe) the way that people walk and how it relates to their personalities. Available online via Sage Journals, the study examines both the walking styles and personalities of 15,000 adults aged from 25 to 50. According to the study, when {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (face) with the new challenges, fast walkers are more likely to be active while quiet people tend to walk more slowly. Meanwhile, the study has also found{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (power) evidence that walking speed in adulthood reflects the individual's personality. However, speeding up your walking pace can't {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (instant) make you the life of the party, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} means that you needn't change your personality. Actually, there are {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (hide) strengths of being a quiet person as well as an active one. Make the most of your strengths, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} you can be successful regardless of which type you fall into and {#blank#}10{#/blank#} fast or slowly you walk.

    We want our children to succeed in school and, perhaps even more importantly, in life. But the paradox(悖论) is that our children can only truly succeed {#blank#}1{#/blank#} they first learn how to fail. Consider the finding that world-class figure skaters fall over more often in practice than low-level figure skaters. Why are the really good skaters falling over the most?

    The reason is actually quite simple. Top skaters are constantly challenging themselves in practice. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (stretch) their limitations, they keep trying their best. They fall over so often, but it is precisely why they learn so fast. Lower-level skaters have a quite different approach. They are always attempting jumps they can already do very easily, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (remain) within their comfort zone. This is why they don't fall over. In a superficial sense, they look successful, because they are always on their feet. Never {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (fail) in practice prevents them from making progress.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} is true of skating is also true of life. James Dyson worked through 5,126 prototypes (原型) for his newest vacuum before coming up with the design {#blank#}6{#/blank#} made his fortune. These failures were essential to the pathway of learning. As Dyson put {#blank#}7{#/blank#}: "You can't develop new technology unless you test new ideas and learn when things go wrong. Failure is essential to invention."

    In healthcare, however, things are very different. Clinicians don't like to admit to failure, partly because they have strongegos (自我) —particularly the senior doctors—and partly because they fear litigation (诉讼). The consequence is that {#blank#}8{#/blank#} learning from failure, healthcare often covers up failure. The direct consequence is that the same mistakes {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (repeat). According to the Journal of Patient Safety, 400,000 people die every year in American hospitals alone due to preventable error. {#blank#}10{#/blank#} healthcare learns to respond positively to failure, things will not improve.